UFC News - Page 21

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Matheus Nicolau’s suspension is not over yet, but he already has a date for his return to the Octagon.
Nicolau is set to take on Louis Smolka in a flyweight bout at UFC 219, a pay-per-view event scheduled for Dec. 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the promotion announced.

A rematch between former UFC women’s bantamweight title challengers Alexis Davis (18-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Liz Carmouche (11-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC), who both head down to flyweight for the fight.
Also confirmed the card are undefeated middleweight Trevin Giles (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who knocked out James Bochnovic in his July UFC debut, vs. Antonio Braga Neto (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who hasn’t fought since 2014, as well flyweights Carls John de Tomas (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) vs. Alex Perez (18-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
UFC Fight Night 123 takes place Dec. 9 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The event airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, though the full fight card and bout order haven’t been finalized.

UFC heavyweight prospect Francis Ngannou won’t get a title shot, but he will get an ex-champion.
Ngannou (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who lost a spot on UFC 215 when Junior Dos Santos was flagged for a potential anti-doping violation, will meet the man he called out as a fill-in: Alistair Overeem (43-15 MMA, 8-4 UFC).
The UFC today announced the bout between Ngannou and Overeem, which will take co-headline UFC 218. The Dec. 2 event from Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Dominick Cruz will be returning to the Octagon later this year.
The former UFC bantamweight champion will be taking on top contender Jimmie Rivera in a pivotal contest at UFC 219. The news was announced Wednesday night by the promotion. UFC 219 is set to take place on Dec. 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. No headlining fight has been announced for the card.

UFC Fight Night 122, the first UFC event in mainland China, is beginning to shape up with the addition of a pair of women’s bouts that feature two debuting Chinese fighters.
In the strawweight division, Kailin Curran (4-5 MMA, 1-5 UFC) will welcome Xiaonan Yan (7-1, 0-0 UFC) to the octagon for the first time, while in the bantamweight division Gina Mazany (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) faces Yanan Wu (9-1, 0-0 UFC).

Welsh knockout artist John Phillips (21-6) will make his long awaited UFC debut against unbeaten middleweight standout Eryk Anders (9-0) on Dec. 9 at UFC Fresno.
The UFC made the fight official on Wednesday through their social networks, after Anders broke the news on his Instagram account on Tuesday.

A UFC newcomer has failed a drug test before even debuting in the promotion.
Azamant Murzakanov has been flagged for a potential anti-doping violation by USADA stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected Sept. 2, the UFC announced Monday.

A lightweight bout has been added to the UFC Fight Night 119 lineup as Davi Ramos meets Chris Gruetzemacher at the event.
UFC Fight Night 119 will be held on October 28, 2017, at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. Check out the fight card here.
Globo announced the contest.

A bout between rising lightweight contenders James Vick and Joe Duffy has been added to the UFC’s next trip to Madison Square Garden.
On Monday, the promotion announced that Vick and Duffy will meet in a lightweight contest at UFC 217, which takes place in New York City, N.Y., on Nov. 4.

Next week’s UFC 216 is expected to lose one of its pay-per-view fights.
The Paige VanZant vs. Jessica Eye flyweight fight is off due to an injury suffered by PVZ, MMA Fighting has learned. The promotion hasn’t officially announced the news but should do so in the coming days.

If Ovince Saint Preux is ever on top of you in the UFC's Octagon, don't grab his head. On Saturday night in the main event of UFC Fight Night 117 in Saitama, Japan, OSP secured his third victory via Von Flue choke when he put Yushin Okami to sleep in the very first round.

The UFC and physicians present took note of Mizuto Hirota’s physical state Thursday at weigh-ins. And it appears that’s a main reason why he won’t be allowed to compete Friday night.
Hirota was pulled from his fight against Charles Rosa at UFC Japan due to health and safety reasons, a UFC source told MMA Fighting on Thursday night. The UFC medical staff determined the Japanese fighter to be unfit to compete, the source said. A statement confirmed the news Thursday night.

With the addition of a new title fight, next month’s UFC 216 lineup has experienced a slight shuffle.
As recently reported, officials recently added a second title fight when flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1 MMA, 14-1-1 UFC) vs. Ray Borg (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) was rebooked after their UFC 215 matchup was scrapped earlier this month.
UFC 216 takes place Oct. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FXX and UFC Fight Pass.

It appears that “The Natural Born Killer” hasn’t ridden off into the sunset just yet.
On Tuesday, Carlos Condit took to Twitter to ask UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby for a bout in either December or January. The Jackson-Wink MMA product hasn’t competed since UFC on Fox 21 in August 2016, when he was submitted in the opening round by Demian Maia.

Carlos Felipe has been pulled from his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 119 due to a potential anti-doping violation, the promotion revealed in a statement on Tuesday.
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Carlos Felipe of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on July 29, 2017. Because of the proximity to Felipe’s upcoming scheduled bout in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 28, 2017, against Christian Colombo, Felipe has been removed from the card and UFC is currently seeking a replacement.

A pair of new fights have been added to the UFC’s debut trip to Norfolk, as lightweights Sage Northcutt vs. Michel Quinones and bantamweights Raphael Assuncao vs. Matthew Lopez have been scheduled to tangle on the Nov. 11 show. The UFC confirmed the bookings Tuesday following an initial report by ESPN.